Edrie George Royalshttp://northsidesun.com/taxonomy/term/270/0
enHer name is Lottiehttp://northsidesun.com/opinion-columns/her-name-lottie
<div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://northsidesun.com/sites/northsidesun.com/files/styles/large/public/field/image/Edrie%20Royals%202016_0.jpg?itok=qTuY1nlP" width="576" height="288" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>Some people come into our lives, offer us friendship, and we are never the same. They see the good in us, overlook our faults, and forgive our failures. Their supportive presence and steadfast belief in our worth help us to become our better selves. I believe these people are gifts from God. They give His love a human face.</p>
<p>I have been blessed with many of these good souls who have made the difference in my life's journey. Each one is unique. They have different faces. They come from different places. Their life experiences are varied; but they all have one quality in common: they have given me love. From them I have felt God's embraces.</p>
<p>I remember one whose name is Lottie...</p>
<p>I am not alone in my admiration for her. For more than 35 years, she has entered the hearts and homes of countless readers through her Northside Sun column. She has invited us to share her life with stories of her family's joys, trials, and sorrows. We've learned what in-laws, outlaws, naturals, steps, lay-bys, and add-ons mean; and we've silently used those terms at times when thinking of our own families.</p>
<p>She has published four books with two more in the pipeline and co-edited with Judy Tucker three short story anthologies. Her writings have allowed us access to her fertile thoughts that evolve into characters who tell a meaningful story.</p>
<p>In the midst of her accomplishments, she also has been a devoted wife, the mother to four children, grandmother of 14, and great-grandmother of 10. She has lived through the deaths of her beloved Willard, two children, and one grandchild.</p>
<p>Once a cheerleader for the Ole Miss football team, she continues that role for friends and family. She has no jealousy, no envy. I know, first hand.</p>
<p>Lottie invited me to join the Red Dog Writer's Group; and, as she has for so many others, she encouraged me to put pencil to paper and begin to write again. Her suggestions, offered with humility, always make the written word better. She has a keen ear for what is missing or unclear to the reader.</p>
<p>Lottie is the essence of authenticity. She has no guile and no deception. She speaks the truth as she knows it to be, and she looks at everyone as an equal.</p>
<p>Lottie knows what it means to be original. Who can resist a smile when she enters the room with curls topped by a rhinestone tiara and feet clothed in sequinned slippers.</p>
<p>Lottie' s life is like the coat of many colours. Its hues are rich, and its design is complex. She has experienced great joy and suffered deep pain, and she has always come up churning - with gratitude for all God has given to her.</p>
<p>This month Lottie will climb another mountain. She will be recovering from a mastectomy. We will hold the buckets high for her as we stand in the gap with prayers to heaven for her complete cure and perfect healing.</p>
<p>Edrie George Royals is a Northsider.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-section field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/opinion"><span>Opinion</span></a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/columns"><span>Columns</span></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-event-calendar-date field-type-datetime field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">Wednesday, November 30, 2016 - 17:15</span></div></div></div>Wed, 30 Nov 2016 23:16:05 +0000wmccain3290 at http://northsidesun.comTwilight is a time when we have timehttp://northsidesun.com/news-opinion-columns/twilight-time-when-we-have-time
<div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://northsidesun.com/sites/northsidesun.com/files/styles/large/public/field/image/Edrie%20Royals%202016.jpg?itok=x7vJG3Ao" width="576" height="288" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>Twilight is a time when we have time. We are not subject to calendars filled with appointments, deadlines, and future plans. Commitments are those we make; required ones of yesteryear have been fulfilled.</p>
<p>We can pursue activities we've always wanted to do or simply live quietly and sail away into the sunset. We can be lighthearted or serious about our choices. There are no rules or requirements. Our opportunities are endless if our health allows.</p>
<p>In this privileged space of ours we have time to think and remember, to re-examine things we've done and those we failed to do. We have the opportunity to view life through the lens of hindsight. We can look back at the roads taken and those not chosen and wonder "what if." We can see the big picture. Hopefully, with this comprehensive view of the past, we can understand more clearly the events of our lives, their inter-connectedness, and their consequences. And, maybe, through this process, we can comprehend some aspects of being human.</p>
<p>The gift of wisdom that can only come from hindsight is a gift to be shared, one that may help others facing similar experiences. While we know that each one of us is uniquely created with singular life experiences, we also know there are commonalities shared by everyone in the classroom of life.</p>
<p>We can open the doors to ourselves and share truths we've learned about being human. My years of experiential learning have allowed me to see some basic truths which I believe are common to the human experience we all share.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have learned...</p>
<p>We all know joy, happiness, pain, sorrow, and regret. We all experience the cyclical nature of life, the process of starting over again and again. We know that seasons are part of God's design, that life is like a calendar with happy seasons of spring and summer but also the rainy gray days of fall and winter. We've learned that everything changes. Joy will not last forever but neither will heartache and pain. We've cherished the former and endured the latter. Yes, our lives have taught us we can survive whatever we must face because we know spring will follow winter; and we know that painful, desert times are instructive and can contribute to our growth.</p>
<p>I have also learned...</p>
<p>We may have regrets for some things we did and remorse for those we should have done. In the end, we tried, and we hope and believe we did the best we could given what we knew and the circumstances at the time. We see God's example of forgiving the repentant one for anything and everything; and we know, likewise, we must forgive everyone, including ourselves for our perceived failures.</p>
<p>And I have learned...</p>
<p>Looking back can be a time of counting blessings with heartfelt gratitude. Our souls know that God has given and given and continues to give what we need when we need but mostly for no reason except His unqualified love for us. Perhaps gratitude may be our most important lesson.</p>
<p>Finally, I have learned...</p>
<p>We never graduate from life's classroom. I've learned many lessons and the study continues.</p>
<p>Edrie George Royals is a Northsider.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-section field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news"><span>News</span></a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/opinion"><span>Opinion</span></a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/columns"><span>Columns</span></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-event-calendar-date field-type-datetime field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Date:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">Wednesday, April 27, 2016 - 16:15</span></div></div></div>Wed, 27 Apr 2016 21:15:10 +0000wmccain2133 at http://northsidesun.comDetermining God’s will in twilight timehttp://northsidesun.com/news/determining-god%E2%80%99s-will-twilight-time
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p><em>Special to the Sun</em></p>
<p>IT’S BEEN 75-PLUS years since God, my mother, and Dr. Denman brought me into the world. I was told the event occurred on a Sunday afternoon in September. The place was Greenwood Leflore Hospital in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. The moment, according to my birth certificate, was 5 p.m., but my mother always told me I was born at “4:30 in the afternoon.” Regardless of that minor discrepancy, my age is real, but the swiftness of years passed seems unreal.</p>
<p>This period of my life happened suddenly, it seems. I find myself thinking with absolute certainty that I am in the final chapter of my life’s book while wondering with absolute uncertainty how long it will last, how much time do I have.</p>
<p>In this decade I no longer think in terms of the distant future. I feel guarded even when making plans for next year. The fact of my mortality has become a daily reality. There is an urgency to do all I can while I can. I especially feel the need to embrace God’s will, to use fruitfully the life He gave me. The way - the course of action - is misty and foggy, uncharted with uncertain seas.</p>
<p>Previous decades held clear goals and objectives with plans and time frames. Those days are gone. That life ended in 1989 when I officially retired from a nursing career that spanned 27 years. Since then I have chosen to stay in quiet harbor, believing I paid my dues and earned the privilege to relax and play at life.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A BIBLE STUDY I attended last summer (“Game Plan” by Andy Stanley and Jeff Henderson), however, convinced me that I have not finished God’s unique and singular will for me. Responsibilities and achievements of yesteryear do not take the place of current obligations. The road may change, but the focus on lifelong service cannot. Matthew 25:14-30 presents the parable of the talents and reminds us that we are to take what God has given us and increase its worth for Him. Although I am not a Bible scholar, I believe that is the expectation, the gold standard for living.</p>
<p>Determining God’s will in this twilight time will require divine guidance. My part is to seek and respond to that guidance with humility and dependence. Implied in the process is submission of self. Autonomy, independence, and self direction - valued attributes of another time and place - have no role. I must live the words of the Lord’s prayer: “Thy will be done.”</p>
<p>Edrie George Royals is a Northsider.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-section field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news"><span>News</span></a></div></div></div>Wed, 30 Mar 2016 16:41:33 +0000wmccain2011 at http://northsidesun.com